Hi Tash!
Tash wrote:Of course Darren decides to release music when I was out of the freaking country with unstable wifi! I got the notification from his Twitter account, and was able to buy it, but the connection was so wonky that I couldn't download the EP until I got back to the states. Luckily I was going home the next day.
ha! I'm glad you got back to the U.S. so that you could play the EP. That must had been frustrating!
I'm so glad that you love the
Lost Boys Life EP, Tash!
Yes, I think part of the reason why Darren is taking the lead on the vocals is because he is the most well-known. Hopefully like you said, after the band becomes more well known, Chuck will sing lead too.
I always felt that Darren was more of an Indie kid than a pop performer, based on his music on
Human, and based on all the Indie bands he loves that he tweets his support for (although he also tweets about the big pop names too). I agree that the music of
Lost Boys Life just seems more in line with Darren. However, two songs from the Listen Up tour that really did seem more Indie than pop, were "I Don't Mind" and "Once Upon a Time." I loved both songs, especially "Once Upon a Time."
Yes, I think I misinterpreted what Darren said about
Human. In the Teen Vogue article, Darren clarified that he felt
Human was not well-recorded/produced well. I love that Chuck said in that interview that the Human EP is a lot better than Darren gives himself credit for. I hold a great deal of affection for that little EP, and its songs. I agree, they hold up to this day, nice lyrics, great melodies, and of course, Darren's lovely voice. I remember when I first bought the EP and started playing it at home, my husband commented that Darren has an interesting voice.
Tash wrote:
In this Youtube/Instagram/Snapchat heavy world I think we are going to see more and more artists choosing to be independent and having success with it. I'm excited for all this promo he's doing! I need to still catch up with all the videos.
Completely agree with this, Tash, and I think it's a wonderful thing. It will encourage smaller artists to release their music, without depending on and being tied to a record label, with which they may have artistic differences. And the terms of these contracts with record labels can be very long, so if a music artist and a record label differ on the musical direction of an album, that artist will be stuck with the label for a long time, possibly stuck in limbo (in Cal, I believe contracts with record labels can be as long as 7 years).
Tash wrote:
BTW, I actually am not surprised the album peaked high on Itunes. I think Darren has a VERY loyal fanbase, due to the fact that he's so great with his fans. I also noticed a month or so ago that despite not having any "huge" projects announced yet, that his followers were increasing and now he's almost at 2 million.
I know that many fans truly appreciate how kind and giving with his time Darren is with them. His kindness is a large part of why I adore him and will remain a fan.
Thanks for the info about his Twitter followers, Tash.
Jeremy wrote:I like the four songs, especially Every single night. It's "layered" (I quote Darren) and it's what I like.
I was guessing "Every Single Night" would be your favorite of the EP songs, Jeremy. I think you had mentioned before that you like 80s music, and that song definitely has an 80s feel (Lionel Richie, Miami Sound Machine).
Jeremy wrote:I love the lyrics video. I'm younger than Darren but I love the graphics of old video games. I also love the fact there's a link between the music style and the visuals. The whole thing is pretty coherent.
Yes, I thought that was pretty cool too.
About
Human, I think it's more that Daren felt the EP wasn't produced as well as it could have been. I believe Darren and his friend (Chris Lorentz?) recorded the songs in one of their bedrooms. Lilikoiluv told me the story (but of course, I forgot the details
). To me, the production is not as important as the lyrics, melodies, and the vocals, including the emotion expressed by Darren in his vocals.